Wildwood 

Last year I could not bring myself to remove some old tubulars that just refused to die. Not so this year. Armed with a big can of Continental (for aluminum rims) the plan is:


Veloflex Roubaix (25mm tan sidewalls) on the Mondia for a smoother than 23s ride
Schwalbe S-One (30mm black) on the Harding for off-pavement
Veloflex Vlaanderen (28mm tan) on the Merckx Corsa Extra for distance vintage rides
Continental Sprinter (22mm black) on the DeRosa, it is a true race bike after-all!


For newer bikes
Specialized Turbo (24mm black) on the Calfee
Veloflex Arenberg (25mm black) on the Tallerico


Maybe I should have a gluing party, with the large 350g can from Bike Inn (less than $25, shipped), there should be more than enough to share.


Roll on.
Now if the weather would just dry a bit.

corrado33

Ha, we should send you the spare tubular rims we have at the shop. We probably have a dozen pairs of tubular rims (not wheels, just rims) that no one will ever buy because no one uses tubulars... Some of them appear brand new.

(For the record, I'd probably never be allowed to send them to you, the old guy at the shop hoards stuff and refuses to try to sell them online.)

DiabloScott

There's really nothing quite so satisfying as doing a good glue job.

CroMo Mike 

Nothing like a set of new tires to make a bike look nice.

The Golden Boy 

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

OldsCOOL

Wildwood 

I'm looking for one of these. At a fair price given shipping.

squirtdad

I may have to send my brother by to check them out

Lascauxcaveman 

I'll be picking three or four pairs of NOS tubie rims from my cousin-in-law next time I can get out Bainbridge Island, so I should be ready to join the party.

But I suppose it would make sense to build the wheels before I glue the tires on, huh?

Better not hold off for me.

Drillium Dude 

I have a set of blue Arc en Ciels on NR high flange hubs and the Alpina's Mavic SSC set. Both with tires stretched and ready to go. Gommitalia Champions for the AECs and vintage Conti Giros for the SSCs.

DD

Ex Pres 

How many holes?

Chombi

Me, on the other hand, was cleaning off old glue from a wheelset I just sold to my younger brother, who wants to try tubs for the first time. It took almost an hour to get the dang stuff off from the rim with Goo Gone and a butter knife, but I wanted my brother to see clean, brand new looking rims when he comes by ths weekend for his first lesson on how to glue and mount tubs......
Wish that old glue was older and more dried out than it was, cause I could have just zinged the stuff off with my Dremel with a wire brush tip in 1/4th the time it took me!.....

qcpmsame 

Did both bikes last week, new tubs on the Medici and refreshed the Tommie (long-term ready v. just getting a new build on the road.) +1 on using gloves while gluing up tubs, and thanks to the guy that invented acid/flux brushes for soldering, great for applying glue to rims, and to tires also.

Bill

Wildwood 

It will be a front wheel, so i'm flexible. 28 or more.
Got a wheel? PM me. But shipping from AL seems extreme.

Lascauxcaveman 

When it's not completely hardened, your best best is a heat gun and some rags. Wear heavy gloves. 10 min per rim.

Steve Whitlatch 

I have one laced to A Campagnolo front hub. I bit of brake wear but not bad. Mine looks darker than yours though could be the lighting? If you need it, mine is collecting dust as I have no matching rim?

Wildwood 

For color perspective. (At a future date)

gaucho777 

I support this thread. Most of my miles are on tubulars. Lately I've been riding my Merlin despite its 21mm Vittoria Corsa Evo-CX tubulars. Nice tires, but ridiculously narrow. (Not my choice, tires came nearly new on a used wheelset I acquired and I'm too cheap not to put them to use. I'm eager to wear them out and put on some wider tires.

I've ridden a lot of varieties of tubulars but haven't tried out any models from Veloflex. I'd be interested in your assessment of the Roubaix and Vlaanderen tires once you've put some miles on them.

Wildwood 

Will comment somewhere on the performance of the Veloflex and Schwalbe. I bought them for their supposed durable tread and supple sidewall. Have a spare Roubaix (tan) but no spare Schwalbe S-One.


My tire dilemma is that my clinchers are on the very affordable end of the scale and a couple of flats through the winter months with trying to get tight wirebeads off 'n back on while near roadside, has me high on the tubies.

gaucho777 

Btw, I'm a fan of Stan's sealant if you are going to spend some non-racing time with tubulars. It can be a drag to flat early in a long pleasure ride and then worry the rest of the ride if you are going to roll a spare tubular in a corner. In race situations, you just get a spare wheel and chase like hell. With sealant, most flats can be repaired on the fly without having to worry about pulling off the properly glued tire. I still do bring a spare tubular (as well as a patch/sewing kit just in case), but the sealant is a nice innovation. Also, one of the old-style, round multi-gauge spoke wrenches can be used to remove/tighten the removable valve core.

Wildwood 

+1 on Stan's.

jimmuller 

What seems like a few months ago I glued up a wheel and replaced one of my tires. Then it snowed, then it rained hard. Then it snowed again. Now it has been raining hard for what seems like two weeks. I don't know why I bother to build up bikes. Between the weather and the other commitments I don't get to ride them much except back and forth to work.

pastorbobnlnh 

I was also keeping my fingers busy with tubulars this week. In my case I was cleaning the old dried out glue off a pair of Campagnolo/Mavic wheels @BluesDaddy found at his town dump. So far I've tried blow torch and rag, Goof Off and rag/steel wool, and now this:

Effetto Mariposa Carogna Mastick/Glue Remover for aluminum and carbon rims:



I have to admit this is the best method--- especially if you don't like breathing fumes (Goof Off), or burning fingers (blow torch). It comes out as a gel which basically has no odor. I smeared on a thin layer with a gloved finger and let it work over night. I'm guessing you can use this with bare skin if you'd like.

The next day I used bronze wool to remove the residue and polish the rim. 99.9% of the old glue was gone. I used a pocket knife to clean up around the spoke hole eyelets. The rims look brand new. Currently these Vittoria Paves are stretching on the clean and new looking rims for a few weeks.



We still have 2 feet of snow on the ground and a ton of sand and salt on the roads, so the vintage steel and their tubulars remain in winter hibernation.

Wileyone 

I know what your saying 2 Weeks of Rain then Snow last Night. I have 2 new sets of Tubs waiting for their Maiden Voyage's. No Glue smell here though. It's Tufo Tape for me.

Chombi

I have four of these stretching on two wheelsets.....
Michelin a service Course limited release "Homologation" tubs, as issued to pro teams.
Story is, these special hand made tires from Michelin were just a couple of hundred imported into the country to distribute to the pro teams and the distributor to qualify for Homologation required to use the in the pro races.
A pair is going on a wheelset I will be using on a certain blue bike that's still in transit to me. The other two are spares.....I was even able to snag a 5th tire!
Notice, the sidewalls are blue that by coincidence, will match the bike....